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SUSTAINABLE PROCESSING

Green solvent for perovskite solar cell production

Nature Sustainability volume 4, pages 192–193 (2021)Cite this article

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Perovskite solar cell (PSC) technology is moving closer to commercialization but the ecotoxicity of the solvents involved in perovskite processing remains a barrier. A study now identifies a green solvent that can help PSC sustainability and scalability.

A solar cell employing an organic–inorganic halide perovskite material to absorb light was developed in 20091. The energy from the light excites electrons to generate electricity. However, the first photocell of this kind was neither stable nor efficient because the MAPbI3 (MA, methyl ammonium) perovskite tended to dissolve in the polar liquid electrolyte and its power conversion efficiency (PCE) was only 3.8%. In 2012, the corrosive liquid phase was replaced by a solid material forming a solid-state PSC that showed substantially improved stability (over 500 h) and a PCE of about 10% (refs. 2,3). Since then, research in perovskite photovoltaics grew exponentially leading to a PCE of 25.5% as certified by the Best Cell-Efficiency Chart in 20204. This remarkable progress, made in a very short time, makes PSCs competitive on efficiency grounds against well-established thin-film solar cells (22–23%). Without doubt, achieving scalable fabrication of PSCs is now at the top of the agenda for both academia and industry5.

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Fig. 1: Life cycle analysis, amount and toxicity of solvents for manufacturing of PSCs.

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  1. School of Chemical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Korea

    Nam-Gyu Park

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  1. Nam-Gyu Park
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Correspondence to Nam-Gyu Park.

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Park, NG. Green solvent for perovskite solar cell production. Nat Sustain 4, 192–193 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-00647-6

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